I spent the last two weeks in my yearly sanctuary outside of Ithaca, NY at the Ithaca Zen Center. www.bodymindretreats.com I have gone here every September for the last five years to detox my mind and body. This place has a prolific healing energy on multiple levels. First of all it is in a spectacularly beautiful setting outside of Ithaca, NY. In September there is a symphony of colors in the trees as they begin their yearly spectral display prior to shedding their foliage. In the auditory scape, there is a cacophony of sounds from a healing bells concert, to the nearby howling of lovely coyotes. Geese honk, crickets chirp, and if you are lucky you are serenaded by singers Travis Knapp http://travisknapp.yolasite.com/, Twilla Lannes, and Morley http://www.morleymusic.org/home/. This place is a real treat for the sensual self.

When you arrive here you are greeted with “Welcome Home” and indeed it is for me. It is here that I am able to shed all the labels and facades that I hide behind. I am able to be me as I am. The birth of solutions to problems big and small arise on this land, in the sauna, where you are stripped naked, and in the meditation hall where your mind is stripped naked. What you are left with is your essence, and some of the finest members of humanity I have met... The staff that runs the place.

The center is run by David and Marcia Radin, two wonderfully spiritual beings. David from a lineage of Zen Buddhism and Marcia from the Sufi Dervish tradition. They have taught me unconditional love for others and most importantly for myself. Together they built a wonderful retreat than helps enable one to detox the physical body and to detox the mind.

I have recovered from a separation from a great love there. I have found great love there. I have learned to sit in the unknowing of the outcome of love relationships there with love and grace. I have made lifelong friends and true companions on this journey called life. It is in this place that I am able to have my stone heart cracked open and express the emotions that are hidden from those in my everyday life. I have healed from physical ailments there. I have recovered from psychological problems. I dropped my fear of water and swam freely for the first time there several years ago. I have recovered from addiction there. I recovered from a heartbreaking trip to Haiti there. I have learned how to die there (thanks David) and I have learned to live there (thanks Marcia).

I always leave there with tears and great reluctance, but am excited to return next September and find myself all over again. For those in need of healing on multiple levels, check it out. You may find a new outlook on life and a passion for coffee enemas!